Déjà vu all over again as a state-backed Chinese company fails, after months of wrangling, in an audacious bid to acquire overseas resources assets for close to $20bn.
Four years on from China National Offshore Oil Company's aborted bid for Unocal of the US and Beijing is left to ponder why it remains difficult for it to complete large deals with western groups.
Last week's collapse of Chinalco's proposed $19bn investment in Rio Tinto, the debt-ridden Anglo-Australian miner, has triggered frustration and anger among Chinese decision makers. It also has important implications for how the country's “wall of money” will eventually cascade onto world markets.